« From Ancient Pottery to High-Tech Watch Material »
Ceramic is a material used across a wide range of fields thanks to its properties. That includes the luxury watch segment, where you will find a variety of ceramic watches as well as metal watch cases with ceramic details. Our article shines a brief spotlight on the history of this fascinating material and on a few examples of how it is used in the current collections of renowned watchmakers.
A Material Used for Thousands of Years
In technical terms, various inorganic, non-metallic materials are referred to as ceramics or ceramic bodies. These include, for example, stoneware, earthenware and porcelain. A basic distinction can be made between clay ceramics and glass ceramics. The term derives from the ancient Greek word "keramos," which in antiquity referred both to clay minerals and to the various dimensionally stable products made from them by firing.
Yet humans had the ability to make objects from it far earlier. Archaeological finds show that small figurines were made from loess loam and fired in open hearths as early as around 30,000 years ago. The suitability of clay for making pottery was probably discovered independently in several geographic regions, for example in northern Asia, where the oldest clay vessels in the world found to date were unearthed in the Amur region of Siberia.
The Mesolithic Jomon culture in Japan also made ceramic vessels, as finds around 15,000 years old attest.
Very old ceramic finds have also been documented in China and Ukraine, in Sudan, in what is now Mali in West Africa, and in the Nile Delta. While early ceramic products were presumably always made by "open firing," the first pottery kilns can be traced in China from the 5th millennium BC.
By the 4th millennium BC at the latest, they were also in use in the Near East and in Central Europe. Given how early they spread, it is hardly surprising that ceramic finds play a central role in dating and identifying archaeological cultures.
Versatile Applications – Including the Watch Industry
Over the centuries, the manufacturing processes for ceramic products and their range of applications expanded steadily.
Today, ceramic materials are used to make far more than tableware, vases, stove tiles, roof tiles, bricks or wall and floor tiles. Ceramic objects and components are used in electrical engineering equipment and systems as well as in medicine, aerospace, mechanical engineering, automotive manufacturing and a host of other industries.
Another field of application that has been growing in popularity for years is the watch industry.
The spectrum ranges from complete watch cases and bracelets to individual components such as bezels.
Rado: An Innovative Pioneer in Ceramic Watches
For decades, Rado – part of the Swatch Group since 1983 – has proven especially innovative and committed to researching and using new high-tech materials.
The brand grew out of a watch factory founded in 1917 by the Schlup brothers in Lengnau, Switzerland, which initially produced only ébauches for other watchmakers and in 1937 established Rado Watch Co. Ltd. as a subsidiary.
Rado caused a stir in the watch industry in 1962 when it launched the DiaStar, regarded as the world's first scratch-resistant watch.
Since then, the manufacturer has relied heavily on a range of high-tech materials, developed in-house or in cooperation with Georges Ruedin S.A., also part of the Swatch Group. Alongside sapphire crystal, which numerous other luxury watchmakers use as well, these include hard metal, lanthanum, polycrystalline diamond and high-tech ceramic.
In 1986, for example, the Rado Integral was introduced, a watch whose case was fully covered with scratch-resistant sapphire crystal and which was worn on a bracelet of scratch-resistant, ultra-hard ceramic. It was followed in 1990 by the Ceramica, whose case and bracelet were made entirely of the hard material, and the Vision 1, launched in 1997, was the world's first watch made of polycrystalline diamond – to name just a few key milestones in the collection of the brand, which today includes product lines such as HyperChrome, DiaMaster, Captain Cook, Centrix and Ceramica.
In 2001, the Vision 1 was even entered in the Guinness Book of Records as the hardest watch in the world.
To this day, ceramic watches and watches made of other innovative, extremely durable materials remain the focus of this manufacturer, whose products have already won numerous design awards.
Omega Ceragold
Other luxury brands have also explored ceramic watches intensively in recent years, each finding its own solutions. Omega, for instance, has developed its own models – such as the Omega Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon with a Co-Axial caliber – and, under the name Ceragold, a new way of combining gold and ceramic.
The first public presentation of the new Ceragold technique in 2012 was preceded by a development phase of around five years. The process is used, for example, to inlay ceramic bezels such as that of the Seamaster Planet Ocean Ceragold with gold elements. First, recesses for the indexes and numerals are laser-engraved into the ceramic rotating bezel.
In the next step, these recesses are filled with gold using a process based on galvanic deposition, so that the gold practically "grows" on the ceramic. The technological challenge is that only metals, not ceramic materials, can actually be electroplated. The solution is tiny holes drilled into the bottom of the engravings and then filled with gold. This creates anchor points that improve the gold's adhesion. The innovative Ceragold technology produces a very smooth, uniform surface.
A Material of Superlatives
Ceramic watches are high-end watches, and it's not only the models from Rado or Omega that prove it. The lightweight material with its exceptional scratch resistance has also been a great success in the elegant women's watches of the Chanel J12 line. The collection's Black Ceramic and White Ceramic are sleek, gleaming beauties – like yin and yang.
Hublot takes an even bolder visual approach, with numerous ceramic watches in its portfolio. We'd particularly like to highlight the distinctive yet elegant Hublot Orlinski Blue Ceramic 40 mm from the Classic Fusion collection, because we think ceramic could hardly look more impressive than it does here.
High-Quality Ceramic Watches Already Available in the Mid-Range
It's obvious that watches such as Omega's Ceragold models sit in the upper price bracket of the luxury watch market, if only because of the precious metal they use. But watch lovers who don't necessarily want to – or can't – spend a high four- or five-figure euro sum right away don't have to forgo the beauty and functionality of ceramic materials when choosing a wristwatch.
Several ceramic watches from renowned manufacturers are available in the mid-range. For men's wristwatches, one option is the Junghans Force Mega Solar, a high-end ceramic watch with a multi-frequency radio-controlled solar movement including Autoscan, big date and sleep mode.
A counterpart for female watch fans with a soft spot for the material is the Tag Heuer Aquaracer Quartz 35 with white dial. Even if it's no longer quite in the mid-range, it's well worth it as an entry point. In addition to Rado, Omega, Rolex and Junghans, manufacturers such as Oris and others also offer full ceramic watches or models with ceramic bezels in their lineups.
